Retinal Alteration Associated with an Arachnoid Cyst of the Pineal Region.

Abstract

Retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive high-resolution imaging technique, which is considered a biomarker of neurodegeneration. Several intracranial lesions can induce retrograde neurodegeneration which can be assessed using OCT. The cysts of the pineal region are usually asymptomatic and most often are an incidental radiologic finding. We describe the case of a 50-year-old woman with an arachnoid cyst of the pineal region who complained of visual symptoms for 3 months. Bilateral macular thinning was demonstrated by OCT both on the preoperative and postoperative examinations, without any other clinical findings that could explain the results. We suggest that the retinal alteration is caused by retrograde neurodegeneration secondary to the pineal region mass.